Lavender Town Syndrome – Pokemon Red and Blue
Lavender Town from the Pokemon Red and Blue titles was creepy enough on its own. It had Pokemon Tower, home to Pokemon graves and various ghost Pokemon, not to mention the creepy music and aura which stayed with us to this day. However, when the games first released in Japan, there were severe differences in Lavender Town’s music (the Western version had reduced pitch and frequencies for some notes). At the time, reports began to emerge of players becoming obsessed with the titles in Japan with some believing teen deaths on playing too much Pokemon. Some would theorize that the music of Lavender Town played a part and that’s why Nintendo altered it for the West. Is it possible that Lavender Town’s creepiness infested its players? Even all these years later, we’re not completely sure.
